#BEDJ - What's In A Name?

I've been blogging for nearly two years now but I don't think I've ever gone into much detail about where A Curvy Cupcake got its name. The Curvy part is self explanatory but this Cupcake has a backstory.

Take a seat! I may ramble on.

Many moons ago I was a regular at gigs across the country. When you spend 3+ days a week in the same environments you see the same faces and because of that I made a lot of friends in the music industry. From day one I was a pal and I was rarely seen as anything else. I was happy with that but everyone once in a while I'd become the centre of someones attention. On one such occasion, when something happened, the someone told his friends and they laughed at him for "pulling a cupcake" because I was chubby and didn't compare to their regular girls.

It was at this time I started to hide away. I went on a 300 calorie diet and shed a lot of weight. I became quite unwell and for what? Because some idiot musician called me a Cupcake.

This stuck with me for a long time. I lost confidence, I lost friends and I stopped having fun. So a few years later when I decided to start blogging I wanted to come up with a name that would turn that lingering negative into something positive. Into a symbol of strength, love and confidence. 

And A Curvy Cupcake was born.

Now the idiot musician is the last thing that comes to mind when I hear the word Cupcake. Now it is my blog. It is me. It is part of who I am, how far I have come and how many amazing people I have met on my journey. 

In a way I have The Idiot to thank for that. But I think I'd rather thank myself. And all of you who have helped and supported me on my way.



Do you have a blog?
How did you come up with the name?

(This is DAY ONE of my Blog Every Day In June Challenge. Check here for the original post.)

Blog Every Day In June

You may have noticed that I am not a regular blogger with a strict routine. I have adopted more of a "yay the kids are asleep let's write stuff!" style.


I watched in awe as fellow bloggers completed the Blog Every Day In May challenge. Keeping up something like that with jobs, children, life in general seems like a huge achievement to me. Kudos if you're one of those who took part.

So when Lisa came up with a Blog Every Day In June list I figured WHY NOT! I'm giving this a shot.

Image Credit: lisaphilbin.co.uk

There are a few topics on this list that are subject to change as I'm not a huge makeup/beauty enthusiast but we'll see how it goes!

As of tomorrow I'll be blogging every day. For a month. Eek!

Will you be doing a June challenge?

Last Nights OOTD

The last week in May is full of anniversaries for my family. Last night we got together to mark my twins' 2nd birthday, my sisters birthday and the anniversary of my grandfathers passing.

Beautiful sunset at the end of my parents road

It was a lovely evening with food and conversation, and a celebration of life which serves to remind us that we need to live in the now.

I wore:
Dress - Voodoo Vixen (Penny)
Camera Bag - Accessorize (old)
Shoes - New Look (old)

I adore this dress and have the gorgeous Sarah at Plus Size & Proud to thank as she has given it to me as part of a swap despite me not having anything to swap yet!

Hooray to family and awesome friends.

A Plus Size Promise

Back in April I uploaded a video making a pledge of self confidence for summer and invited all you fellow plus size beauties to join me in making promises to ourselves.

I'm delighted and flattered that the gorgeous Debz from Wannabe Princess took inspiration from this and did what she does so amazingly well; She encouraged the plus size blogging community to come together and make 5 promises to live by this summer.

I jumped on the chance to expand on my video, so here are my five Summer Promises:

1) I will dress for the weather and for my mood and will make no apologies. I will don my ice cream dress without fear of being the fatty covered in ice cream. I will free my arms from their long sleeved prison and let my bingo wings flap in the breeze with nary a care for what people think.

2) I will eat in public. Everybody eats. It's natural. I'm human. I will not be shamed. If I want to picnic with my kiddies then I shall. I live by the sea! Frozen treats will be consumed on the beach and they will be enjoyed and not guilt-ridden.

3) I will attempt to get a tan on my legs. And even if I don't I will enjoy not spending my entire summer in leggings. My calves have been hidden for too many years. They need to see daylight!

4) This is the biggie. I will allow myself bad days. I'm not a robot. We all feel crappy sometimes. But most importantly I will pick myself up from those bad days, dust myself off and carry on. I will not let negative days turn to weeks. I will not allow hateful comments to consume me or reverse all the work I've done to achieve body acceptance.

5) I will be me. 100% unashamed.


What will your summer promises be? 

Please take a look at all these beautiful and inspirational ladies making their own summer promises:

Debz - www.wannabeprincess.co.uk
Hayley - Curvesncurlsuk.blogspot.co.uk
Toni - Www.theleftofperfect.blogspot.co.uk
Vicky  - http://therandomnessoftwee.blogspot.co.uk/
Kitty - http://kittyramblesalot.blogspot.co.uk
Kitty Kaos - www.Adventuresofariotgrrrl.com
Vicky - http://www.thecurvedopinion.com
Kathryn - www.misskathrynsmisstakes.co.uk
Sarah - www.plussizeproud.co.uk
Becky - Bixxboxxbitsbox.wordpress.com
Kerry-Ann - http://voluptuouschatterbox.blogspot.co.uk/
Daisy - https://iwillnotwrapmyselfinsmocksandapologies.wordpress.com/
Leah - www.justmeleah.co.uk
Charli - http://curvygirlthin.blogspot.co.uk
Tanya - http://secretplussizegoddess.blogspot.com
Filipa - http://uniquelyfilipa.blogspot.pt
Kathryn - www.murderofgoths.co.uk

Wingz Have Got You Covered

You know how sometimes a product comes along that is a total game changer?

That's what the product I'm reviewing today has been for me.

There are a few reasons for wanting to have sleeves on a garment. Maybe you don't like exposing your arms. Perhaps there's a chill in the air. Maybe you want to change up the look of an outfit without having to chuck on extra layers. Maybe it's all of these things!

Enter Wingz*. The perfect sleeve addition for those who want to cover up their arms without adding extra bulk to an outfit. This product is pure genius and there are so many varieties and colours to choose from that I found it hard to decide which ones to try!

In the end I opted for the long black regular Wingz as I think they are the best way to show you what these beauties actually do and just how easily you can wear them. Here I've worn them with a contrasting dress so you can see where the dress ends and the Wingz begin. For reference I am wearing their size 3.

I tried them on during a typical spring evening when there was a slight chill in the air but not enough to warrant a jacket. The Wingz did a perfect job of keeping the evening shivers at bay.

One thing I did notice is that a larger chested lady like myself will suffer gaping or stretching around the arm holes of sleeveless dresses often exposing the bra. This also means it shows off a bit of skin where the dress ends and the Wingz begin. This is not a design fault of the Wingz. It's an issue with this particular style of dress that I see all the time.

Ever so slight skin exposure thanks to Giant McBoobersons

However there is a way to solve this issue but I've had to strip down to my bra to show you. You've been warned!

On the Wingz website you will find a great little instruction video demonstrating how to put your Wingz on. This clearly shows that you put the band underneath your bra.
However big boobies push a lot of the Wingz fabric to one side causing that exposed skin around the tops of the arms. But if you wear your band slightly higher (not so high that it'll slide up your chest), it gives you a lot more fabric to work with. Problem solved!

Under boob vs On boob: Notice the extra coverage!

How Wingz should be vs How I found the Wingz worked best for me

With this discovery under my belt, I set about doing bits and pieces around the house waiting to see if the Wingz would ride up or roll down or bother me in any way but the garment stayed exactly where I positioned it (probably due to the amazing stretch of the chestband). Colour me impressed!

No more white bits

I've worn this particular set of Wingz a few times now. They're so quick and easy to pop on and off that they'll definitely be a staple in my wardrobe during the unpredictable spring months. And if you find yourself needing to remove them in public it's very easy to take your arms out of the sleeves and slide the whole garment down over your feet without having to take off your dress. Splendid!



*These Wingz were gifted for review but all opinions are my own.

Guilty Pleasures - Video

The ever awesome Miss Kitty Kaos from Adventures of a Riot Grrrl is doing a 'Blog Every Day In May' challenge this month. Hats off to her, I don't think I have the blogging power to manage even half that!

As part of her challenge she completed a tag video on YouTube about guilty pleasures. And the cheeky moo only went and tagged me! Luckily I had a few moments to spare this morning so I put together a quick video.

Take a look and see what I consider to be my Guilty Pleasures!

I'm hoping to do more Youtube stuff in future and would love to know if you think I should keep the non-plus size, non-fashiony bits (like this video for example) separate from the blog or if you'd like to see me combine the two. What do you think?

Vevina - Anti-Chafe Cream Giveaway

Cast your mind back if you will to that mini heatwave of last week. (It'll be back, just not right now- it's the bank holiday after all.)

What were you doing? Skipping in the sunshine, running through sprinklers, chasing the ice cream man... or worrying about how to stop the tops of your inner thighs from painfully loving each other?

For those of us who are potential mermaids, chafing (aka chub rub) has been a real problem... until now!

Last year a little miracle tube of Vevina dropped through my door. (Review here.)
Designed to banish chafing from all problem areas, Vevina cream is not sticky or sweaty and leaves no residue. It's actually quite silky smooth on application and it's so freeing!

 A pea sized amount is more than enough on your chafe-zone. Just apply it to the skin and you'll be rub free for hours and hours!

Vevina literally saved my summer last year and I'm so happy to have some to give away in preparation for this summer! I will be giving away one botttle each of this wonderful stuff to five lucky so-and-sos.
Just enter the competition below.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Winners will be notified within 24hrs of the end of the giveaway.
UK entries only please.